Toby King in 2023 https://wiganwarriors.com/

Toby King in 2023 https://wiganwarriors.com/

Very random that it's a loan signing. What if he has a superb season, we just hand him back to Warrington?

So many questions on this one...

A loan deal? Not sure if I've seen a deal like this in a while and certainly not between two rivals? Are we going to rehabilitate him and send him back? His current deal runs until 2024.

How does this sit with Wardle? A few seem to say it's a 'done deal', but nothing has been said. If it is, then why this King & why hasn't it been announced (yes I know how that sounds)?

I'll give him a chance, but he's gonna have to massively improve. We targeted him earlier in the year and Thornley ran all over him that night.

I don't see us signing Wardle as well which is pretty underwhelming if true. You would have to think Wardle will stay at Wire

In not “in the know” but I predict it’ll be a loan as wire will be contributing a lot to his wage.

Expect for Wire to confirm Wardle now which is annoying as I rate him higher.

I would answer your 2 statements as :-

Yes

No

Think it was more that Wire couldn't cope with the pace + threat of Field + French + Thornley prospered from that really but we've improved players before

Why would Wire sign King up with a four year deal, then loan him off to Huddersfield in the first year of that deal, then loan him to Wigan in the second year of that deal.

I can only imagine it's due to a disagreement with Powell. Not the only one by the looks of it (Cooper and Charnley shipped out sharpish too).

Not many decent quality English centres out there. King and Wardle are good options to replace Bibby and Hardaker if there is no quota spot to use.

Disaster for Warrington - sign King up on an expensive 4 year contract, they decide they don't want him for whatever reason and can only loan him out to partly offset his wages.

I'm not sure if it is a disaster? They are almost paying us to straighten him out and then could, in theory, have a better player back at the end of it. Throw it they could have a new coach by that time too and it's a good gamble imo.

I just don't understand it from our POV? Would it not have been better to leave him at Wire and let him soak up 100% of his wages?

Very odd signing IMO unless Wire are paying most of his wage and we aren't getting Wardle

The very same crossed my mind. A one year loan deal is very strange.

Very strange signing. I was made up when we pulled out of trying to sign him when he wanted silly wages.

He’s been really poor this season and shown up a few times.

As a Saints fan I’m happy he’s playing at Wigan next year. Even more so if this means you aren’t signing Wardle.

King has been a massive twice this year, proper lack of professionalism stuff. He and Powell definitely have fallen out, and management as well

Really pleased with this. Wire will be contributing to his wages and he is a quality English centre that went off the boil on a system that really has disagreed with a few players.

I’d say it is a loan deal for 2 reasons. 1 being Wire pay some of his wages, but 2 if Powell has a stinker again next year and gets binned Wire can take him back if an incoming coach wants him.

Wardle was a done deal a number of weeks ago. Unless things have changed in the last 10 days when I was told by someone very close to him it was a done deal then we will be running with Wardle and King in the centres in 23.

My thoughts are though that this may be confirmation that Bevan is returning to the NRL simply due to cap reasons or maybe KPP goes early.

As a player King is I big strong offloading centre who is probably the best threat in the league under the cross field kick.

He offers something different in attack to anyone else on the team on that regard.

Great bit of business.

Wire will be paying a big chunk of his wages so we are probably getting him cheap.

We currently have no recognised centres for next year;. Thornley injured, Bibby going, Zak left already. Only Hallsall but probably too early for a starting spot.

Getting King cheap for a year gives Hallsall time to develop, still allows us to sign Wardle as our main centre, provides injury cover for Thornley and stops us having to shove Isa or Batty in there.

There are so many positives to this signing.

Why would leaving him at Warrington benefitted Wigan?

Because they'd be paying 100% of the wages for a player they don't want. That limits the spending power and recruitment potential of one of our main rivals.

We've seen if plenty of times with Wigan i.e a player not good enough, taking up wages for the length of their contract.

And what if another club comes in and gets roughly the same deal Wigan are getting now?
Do you honestly think Wire would just leave him rotting for 2 years?

Maybe, just maybe, Wigan have spotted an opportunity and fancy/rate him as a player?

Agreed. We all know the centre positions are an area in our squad that needed strengthening. Maybe we've paid full price for Wardle as well. This could mean we have two good quality centres for 60-75% of the overall value (at least in the short term).

I'm sure the club know what they are doing. Who are we to argue?

Surely he’s a direct replacement for Thornley who we can’t seem to get on the field for longer than 2 mins anyway.

So you don't have any reservations about the signing at all? Or are we doing that thing of "thou shall not doubt the club"?

I'll say it as I see it - I could maybe get my head around it being a permanent deal I.e a year to "fix him" and then see some fruits of that effort. At the min it seems stacked in the favour of Wire.

To answer your 1st question - I'd much prefer that someone else did get him tbh, good deal or not. Outside of Saints, and possibly Leeds, I don't think there's another team with the potential to mold King the way we could. We'll make him a much better player - of that I'm sure. Who benefits long term from that tho? Is it a sound decision in the long term.

I mean we're talking about getting a player firing (Peet's words) and then sending back him back a better player to one of our biggest rivals. Would Saints take one of our guys, build him up, at the expense of one of their own, and then send him back?

You also talk about the club seeing something in him as a player, well they certainly saw something in him 3 months ago when they purposely kept sending Thornley and Field at him.

I don't think the above is negativity for the sake of it. I'd say some of the points are valuable questions to ask on a forum.

In those 2 minutes Toby King managed to make thornley look like a prime Mal Meninga!

If Wigan sign him on a permanent deal there is a question of possible transfer fee (or Wire may negate that just to get him off the books) and definitely paying his full contract amount.

This gives Wigan the flexibility of working with the player on a reduced wage with no commitment if things don't work out as they hoped, or, in Pole position if they did.
He will not go back to Wire no matter what unless BIG changes happen at Wire, its not like were going to turn him into Gene Miles and then gift wrap him back to Wire no questions with a 100% guarantee that suddenly he's going to turn Wire into a championship winning team
There'll be ongoing discussions through the next 12 months to decide where he'll ne going 2024 with him, his agent, Wire and Wigan and a number of other clubs.

I just can't get my head around anyone thinking this somehow improves Wire, it smacks of desperation on their part and they're backed into a corner with one of their highest earners.

Anyone can express their view that he's a terrible or a great player.
Anyone can express their opinion that it will be a good or bad deal

I just don't see how once again someone can complain about their view being questioned whilst saying they should be allowed to express their opinion.

No one is stopping you, go ahead, but don't make out that anyone defending or someone with a different opinion is stopping you from having your own.

FWIW

Whilst at Wire 2020/21 and then subsequently throughout the time his future was up in the air early 2021 I wouldn't have rated him more than maybe a 7 or 7.5 out of 10 player, and he was after 9/10 type wages
Nothing since has changed my view
Hes been in a poor environment though imo and maybe 6months at Hudds, and a pre season at Wigan we can maybe get an 8/10 player or more whilst only paying a proportion of that wage?

King won’t play for Powell.

Let’s not forget how good King has been up until recently at Wire, and is playing well at Hudds.

If Powell gets binned next year I’ve no doubt King will be back at Wire in 24 to see out his contract.

I think this is a fantastic signing personally unless things have changed in the last week or so Wardle and King are our starting centres for next season.

That is a huge improvement on anything we have had for a long time.

It’s all well and good saying we could let him stay at Wire to eat up their cap but there would be others coming in for him so that would never happen.

He is a top notch young British centre.

Only downside for me is it probably means one of Bevan or KPP possibly both will be in the NRL in 23. I just can’t see how we can manage all those players under the cap unless we have got King for an absolute steal.